Every business owners wants their business to be in the number one or two position when searching on the Internet. This is a healthy goal, and one that should be priority for all owners. However, in reality, this does not happen overnight and it takes patience on the part of the business owner and a strategic and informed plan to reach that goal. Here are four “tried and true” concepts to build upon for a successful SEO plan:
1. Build your site for your customer. When creating your site, remember who you’re building it for. Think about the user and what they are looking to learn. Forget about your competition, ad dollars and search engines. If your customer comes first, the search engines will follow.
2. Educate, Inform, and Share. Create content that educates and informs your “ideal” customer. Ease of navigation is key, as well as showing your visitor who “you” are as a person and a company. Rather than selling on every page, make sure that you give your visitor something to take away – links to articles, down loadable pdf’s with support information, images to view and share with a friend. The options are numerous, and you gain a loyal visitor when they see you as expert in the industry.
3. Use “Customer” Vocabulary. Listen for words that your customer uses when asking about your services. Do a search for keywords that customers use in your industry. Ask your receptionist, sales team and office manager for words that they hear consistently from customers who call or visit. Remember, these may not be the words you would use, but you are not the one searching. Include these relevant keywords in copy only where it makes sense when reading.
4. Don’t look for the easy way to the top. Don’t take the shortcut and buy into the shady tactics that exist out there. These often include spam, buying links and likes, creating fake profiles, and “quick-fix” tricks that will ultimately get your site removed from the Google index. .
These four simple rules have been the foundation for success in SEO for over a decade. This does mean that the business owner has to work harder, but in the long run it does pay off as your rankings increase and your names gains visibility.
